I wanted to make an magic infection AU. It's like the everfree infection AU people do but more based on my element system (X)
I couldn't come up with anything yet for the last 4, so I guess for now they could be survivors.
Story elements under the cut because it's long.
It seems either Camellia Joe or Gold Grit got infected first.
Camellia Joe symptoms first started after he returned from his foray into the Everfree. He had been grounding down a new flower he collected. He had never smelt this flower before and wanted to try it in a cosmetic item. However, the pollen seemed to irritate his nose. He assumed the pollen is what caused the painful hard lumps to appear on his cream colored hide. Camellia Joe hid away to conceal his legions, assuming that it was just exposure to this new flower that made him break out. He was unaware at the time that the legions where infectious.
Gold Grit had just come back to their home from her rock hounding trip when CJ had started to work with his flower. She had found a new, unknown crystal and was on the way to Violet's house to sell it to him so he could study the rock's magic potential. Either one could have been exposed to a foreign body that could cause illness. Gold Grit did not seem to have many outward symptoms. She maybe just moved a bit slower and talked less. She said she was probably just tired from her hike. Gold Grit developed a cough that seemed to produce sand, but that was put down to the dusty roads and how dry the summer had been.
When she was found after finally solidifying into her new stony form, she was blocking the road to the broad river. Thinking she was an odd statue, travellers tried to move her out of the way, but found their hooves oddly burning and numb when they touched her. And any unicorns who tried to grasp her with their magic found their energy would fishtail and spark out, becoming unstable. These poor folk soon found that their exposure to this odd energy had horrible effects on their bodies. This is where the infection truly took off.
When Violet, the town's sorcerer, noticed the odd magical signature in his daily readings, he did not correlate it to the illness he had heard was going through town. Who had ever heard of a magical fever? Since he is already a bit of a recluse, he thought it better to stay out of the doctor's way and let them handle any fevers or odd legions.
When Mesquite Pepper called Violet and told him that Sunny Honey was feeling ill, Violet assumed this was a common cold or such, that is why Sunny complained of feeling like she was burning up. Mesquite Pepper and Blue Bird had just been in to visit her and bring her soup. But her frantic energy and high fever gave them real concern. When Violet came, they explained to him her odd fidgeting and how the new illness in town was making ponies behave oddly, not in the fatigued way that a sick pony would usually act. Violet was concerned, but still had not correlated the infection with magic yet.
It was only when he left Sunny's house to go home, that he became aware of the dangerous spike in the magic levels. He always casted a magic reading on the way home to gather background data, but never saw anything like this before. This was far beyond what was safe for ponies be exposed to. But as he looked around, he saw barely anything amiss. If this much magic was in the area, it would have meant that there was an unimaginable catastrophe happening. He expected to see Discord running amok or the ground splitting open to reveal Tartarus. Instead he just saw ponies going about town on their daily business. There were very few ponies for the time of day, and some of the shops had closed up as the owners fell sick. So it was even quieter than a normal afternoon. That was when the light hit him.
The light was so bright that shutting his eyes was useless. The heat singed his whiskers and tightened his skin. And the force of the blast knocked him to his knees. He had been senseless for a few moments before coming to. Sunny's front door behind him was gone. As was the wall, and apparently the rest of the house. The only thing remaining in the smoking husk was Sunny Honey's form draped along the bottom on her hollowed out home.
These blasts appeared regularly and more frequently has Sunny became sicker and sicker. She became full of nervous energy and showed signs of confusions. After each, more powerful blast, she would be dazed and unable to say where she was or what day it was. Toward the end of her metamorphosis, Violet and other magicians were able to conjure a sort of magic shield to protect the area and ponies around her before they were able to cobble together the lead container she's in now. Unfortunately, this is when Violet noticed that anyone who came in contact with this magic blast started to show the deliria and bodily transformations of the infected. He also noticed that he was not changing.
Summer Valley became deserted as either ponies became infected, passed away from infection complications, or fled. When the town was belatedly put under quarantine, Violet elected to stay. He was afraid that he might be a carrier of the infection, and at the time he thought that his infection was just delayed for an unknown reason. Through his studies on Twilight Sparkle's advanced elemental system. He now knows that his body will remain unaffected, his Dark elemental affinity rendering his body's magic inert.
He still does not know if he can pass on the magic infection to others, so he remains in Summer Valley. He still continues his research and tries to care for the remaining infected residents, hoping that a curative could restore most of them. He does not know how far the infection has spread. He hasn't heard from anyone outside of the magical barrier for 9 weeks. He can only guess whether this means the quarantine area has been extended, or if the surrounding governments have collapsed.
There are a couple of survivors in town with Violet. At least he believes they are uninfected. They run away when they see anyone approach. That's probably for the best to limit the dieases spread. And there is not a lot of food to share with the town having collapsed.
Mesquite Pepper is missing. Violet has not been able to find him alive or any signs of his body. He very well might have been pulled under by Blue Bird and consumed. Or he might be infected, too twisted up to be identified. Violet doubts he would have hidden or ran off.
Blue Bird looks like a bloated corpse, dissented and floating on the surface of the water at Miller's Pond. Violet has seen her pull thirsty infected under so he mainly gets his drinking water from the few wells that haven't dried up in the summer drought. Some pony even poisoned a couple of the wells, probably trying to stop the spread by any means they could.
Iron Forge has isolated her self in her mountain home. She seems to be making an armored tank. Or at least something with large treads. She ran Violet off the last time he tried to see her so he keeps his distance. She doesn't seem infected so it's probably safest for her if he keeps away anyways.
Flit and North were on vacation at Las Pegasus so Violet hasn't seen them. Neither letters or magic scrolls can get out so Violet just has to pray they're safe where they are.
Whirly Bird is usually only glimpsed at a distance streaking by high in the atmosphere now. This worries Violet as Pegasus can travel faster than earth ponies or unicorns. If an infected Pegasus was on the outside of the magic barrier, it could easily fly miles away over any wall. Whirly only stays in Summer Valley because of the magic barrier. But these barriers are difficult to erect, costing a lot of magic and planning time. And it turns out that anyone whose magic is a part of the barrier is unwittingly signing up to sacrifice themselves. As their magic is touched by the infection, the casting unicorn becomes infected as well. Hopefully this fact was realized quickly by those outside, or Unicorns would be even bigger spreaders than the speediest Pegasus.
Last one I had from ages ago - always thought reflections goofing off without their, uh, owners(?) was kind of a funny idea. I'd actually wanted to draw the previous part to this before posting, but I'm not sure if/when I'd ever get to it so, why not
context: Outside of possession, dream demons are able to manifest in the real world under specific conditions for a short period of time (conditions differ demon to demon) - the ones that do often use it as an opportunity to have fun and mess around in the mortal realm
